LEFT-Y or RIGHT-Y?

There are those of us in the Studio who are often dyslexic regarding the characteristics and behaviours attributed to ‘right brain’ thinking vs. ‘left brain’ thinking. We surmise that we may not be alone in this confusion. So, as a quick reference, for whatever inspirational adventure you may be pursuing; we offer the following clarifications:

LEFT BRAIN FUNCTIONS

Uses Logic
Detail Oriented
Facts Rule
Words and Language
Present and Past
Math and Science
Can Comprehend
Knowing
Acknowledges
Order/Pattern Perception
Knows Object Name
Reality Based
Forms Strategies
Practical
Safe

***THIS IS FUNNY: In typing this entry for the blog post, my eyes read ‘Left Brain Functions’ but my neuroglia (brain matter) translated it to my typing fingers as ‘Right Brain’. Thus, I typed the exact opposite of the functional meaning! That major TYPO could have caused massive confusional hemorrhaging.

RIGHT BRAIN FUNCTIONS
Uses Feeling
“Big Picture” oriented
Imagination Rules
Symbols & Images
Present & Future
Philosophy & Religion
Can “get it” (i.e. meaning)
Believes
Appreciates
Spatial Perception
Knows Object Function
Fantasy based
Presents Possibilities
Impetuous

RELEASE YOUR CREATIVE DREADLOCKS

Artist: Don Smith

Holy Man wearing dreadlocks covered in ash,
During the Hindu Festival of Shivaratri
Kathmandu

On January 3rd, one in this Studio woke early in the morning. 4:20 am seems to be a time the winged monkeys from the Wizard of Oz like to appear bringing with them a sense of dread and displaced fear of the future. The Buddhist’s call it ‘Monkey Mind’; meaning thoughts are unsettled, restless, confused and uncontrollable. Monkey Mind (the uncontrolled thought) rampages through the forest (the mind) jumping from tree to tree and creating a sense of tension and upset. Taking simple deep, restorative breaths will often calm the monkey mind. Focus entirely on the inhale. Focus entirely on the exhale. Observe intruding thoughts but let them flow down the river without engaging them. Return your focus back to your breath. Inhale. Exhale. Slowly. Deliberately. Breathe. Just Breathe. That was my usual antidote but I had a very hard time keeping my focus on the breath so instead I picked up a new book, Jill Badonsky’s The AWE-manac. I opened it randomly to Page 13 where she introduces the possibility of having some fun with writing a Haiku. The Haiku comes from the Japanese tradition of poetry and is comprised of seventeen syllables in three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables.

I reached for a scrap of paper and the pen I keep on my bedside table. The Monkey’s from Oz were already calming down in the trees. My focus had been diverted from their untamed tantrums to figuring out a Haiku. Here is what appeared on the page:

Haiku: Release Your Creative Dreadlocks

Dread imprisons Lust
Lust longs for AWE-some Passion
Passion destroys Dread

So next time the Monkey Mind takes you prisoner, give this a try.
Write a Haiku.
1st line = 5 syllables
2nd line = 7 syllables
3rd line = 5 syllables

Surprise yourself!
Allow the poet inside to swing from the trees in

the Forest of Imagination,
kissing the monkeys as you go!
-Royce-

HOPE

Artist: Cielo

"I believe the whole key to Life

Is the simpliest thing in the world.

You have to have HOPE for the Future.

Once you loose it, and it never returns,

You're done."

A MUSEologies Studio 'coffee quote' by TT.

He comes up with absolute jewels!

THE POWER OF WORDS

Photo by: Joel Sartore

This morning,

words streaming through my head woke me out of a deep sleep.

I found myself smiling.

In the dream,

words were dancing with each other on gigantic polished rocks

that tumbled across a beautiful pristine river

as though they had fallen from the sky.

I knew this river was high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for

I have crossed it more than once on a hot summer day.
The words had arms and legs; each one alive with its own identity.

The words stretched down the river like a glorious glistening ribbon

creating sentences which, in turn, created dazzling concepts

which, in turn, spoke to my heart and made me smile.

Thank you Brian. You have made my day!

“You can’t begin to anticipate

all the good things that may happen to you today.”
-Brian Narelle-

LAUGHTER IS AN INSTANT VACATION

Artist: Arthur Schatz

It’s that post-holiday week and we could all use as many unexpected and spontaneous laughs as possible. Recently, the MUSEologies studio received an e-mail from SimpleTruths.com which states that a recent health study determined that there are 3 primary reasons people can’t cope in life:

1. They live in the past
2. They have low self-esteem
3. They don’t laugh enough

In fact, the same study concludes that we need a minimum of 12 laughs per day just to stay healthy! So, with that being said, here are a few quotes that may make you LAUGH RIGHT OUT LOUD! Go ahead. Throw your wonderful head back and laugh. Grin from ear to ear. Smile so wide all your teeth show. What have you got to lose!

Insanity doesn’t run in my family. It gallops.
-Cary Grant-

If you look like your passport photo, you’re too ill to travel.
-Will Kommen-

Inside me there’s a thin person struggling to get out,
but I can usually sedate him with 4 or 5 cupcakes.
-Bob Thaves-

I hate housework!

You make the beds, you do the dishes

and six months later you have to start all over again.
-Joan Rivers-

Misers aren’t fun to live with, but they make wonderful ancestors.
-David Brenner-

THE AWE-MANAC

INDULGE IN A DAILY DOSE OF WONDER

SANTA celebrates THE AWE-MANAC release!

Photo by Jay P. Morgan
Concept by Palm Press
Flight preparation for December 24th Launch from North Pole
Santa communing with Elf-Angels at the beach, experiencing a moment of WONDER
Which includes his telepathic ‘final check list’ update
Santa knows that everyone on your ‘list’ deserves

THE AWE-MANAC!


THANK YOU !

to the brilliant, talented and inspired Jill Badonsky for her newest gift to the world,

THE AWE-MANAC A Daily Dose of Wonder.

On Page -1-, she welcomes the reader to ‘come-in’ and realize that,

“Wonder can only be found in the present moment. The gentle breeze drawing together your fractured attention, the scent of cloves stealing you from worry, the sound of the waves reminding you that to be alive is something to believe in - those are the gifts of the present.

We can live with wonder if we have or are open to the ability to recognize the deep pleasure possible in a simple moment. But this ability is a skill like any other – it may take time and practice. We are impatient, we want to apply life-changing concepts to banish our challenges immediately. When the change is not sustained after the enthusiasm dies down, we often just give up instead of rinse and repeat. This book will teach you to forge on in trust, to practice the concepts over and over, a little at a time, imperfectly, until your mind effortlessly chooses the thought that exalts you existence rather than one that darkens it.

Give yourself permission to play, to stay true to yourself, to make compassion a hobby. The non-linear practice of moving forward two tiny steps and sideways one stumble is okay. In the long run, this will get you further than the other schemes that 85 percent of us give up on because we didn’t do it perfectly or because it was too much too soon.”

MUSEologies definition of CHRISTMAS:

C reative living even when life is full of lemons

(knowing how to make hot-mulled lemonade)
H appiness
R espect for all beings
I nspiration
S piritual connection

(nothing at all to do with organized religion’s rules and regs)
T asty nogs and Treats!
M agnificent Moments recognized and savoured
A udacious Auras illuminating the darkness
S ouls Sharing the Human Experience

We are, after all, ‘ONE HUMAN FAMILY’ (Key West Motto)